This partnership comes at a time in which Google is on the defensive about Glass. A few days ago, it released a list of “myths” about Google Glass (bad PR it wants to go away). Robert Scoble, one of Glass’s biggest early fans, recently came out saying that “Glass is doomed” and just a few days ago, asked whether Google is really committed to Glass, since neither Larry Page nor Sergey Brin were wearing the product at TED.

Google reportedly wants to open its first retail location in Soho, New York. It’s not entirely clear what the store will be for but it’s conceivable it could be a showroom for Google’s first collection of Glass frames, which it designed in-house and released earlier this year. If that is the case, it will be just 8 blocks away from Luxottica’s LensCrafters West Village location.

131 Greene street is where Google might open a retail store. The “Luxottica Retail” on Ave of the Americas is actually a LensCrafters , which Luxottica acquired in 1995